One Shot
by girlinblue17
Summary: Chris gets shot. Who did it? What will he do? Set before the Arklay Mansion incident. Title's a play on words: it's both a one-shot story, and it also refers to the shot Chris receives. Chris/Jill


**One Shot**

It was a sunny day, with no trace of a single wisp of cloud. The sky was bright and clear, giving no trace at what was happening on the grounds below it.

A dark-haired man was crouching on the ground, inconspicuous, blending in with his surroundings. Chris Redfield has been known for relying more on his gut feeling than his training, a fact that had gotten him into trouble several times, but now, he allowed his instinct to flow and take over. Carelessness wasn't something he could afford in this situation. He's a soldier, and for all his stubbornness, he always stuck to the mission, and now, he was called to be ruthless. He crept stealthily, eyes everywhere, looking for any sign of movement that could lead to his victory, or defeat. He finally spotted his prey among the bushes, a young man, crouched by the bushes, looking in the opposite direction. Obviously, he wasn't expecting an attack from the back, a false belief Chris exploited. He moved closer, one foot braced on rock, the other on soft mud. His footing was uneven, but he figured that he would shoot and leave as soon as he accomplished the task. He knew what was expected of him: it was kill or be killed.

He adjusted his footing, trying hard not to slip, and took aim.

_Pop. _

Before he could pull the trigger, the sound of a gun going off broke the air. Chris's eyes widened. As he fell to the ground, he raised a hand to his chest. He lifted it up to his face and saw that it was scarlet. He tried vainly to look for his attacker, and it was then that he saw her for the first time.

Jill Valentine.

Chris's eyes widened. "Why?" He asked.

He was only met with a raised eyebrow and strangely enough, a small laugh.

"Why Jill?" He asked again, hoping to get an answer. He expected someone else to have shot him, but not her. He crashed to the ground.

Jill couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing, trying to muffle the sound of her chuckles with her hands. Joseph Frost, the one Chris had been stalking, turned his head in surprise at the sound. Seeing it was Jill, he gave her a thumbs-up and moved away, easily blending in to his surroundings.

Chris glared up at Jill, who was covering her mouth with one hand and clutching her stomach with the other. "Go ahead, laugh it up," he said grouchily. Jill only laughed harder, making wheezing sounds as she valiantly tried to stifle her giggles. Her laughter suddenly stopped when she felt something hit her back. She craned her head to see blue paint spattered all over the upper left area, and Brad Vickers laughing maniacally as he ran away. She blurted out something intelligible and angry. It was Chris's turn to start laughing his head off.

"Chickenheart," she muttered, causing Chris to laugh harder. "At least I got you," she said pointedly to Chris, who stopped laughing all at once.

"You could have at least not shot at point-blank," he said, wincing as he felt his ribs. His entire chest area was covered with red.

"All's fair in love, war, and paintball," Jill said between her giggles.

Chris glared at her again. "Love, eh? Are you trying to tell me something, Valentine?" Chris said with a naughty grin, and was rewarded with Jill turning pink. _God, it's so easy to rile her up. _"Help me up."

"No," Jill said emphatically. Her cheeks were still pink, but her fighting spirit remained in full force. "I'm the one who brought you down, no way am I pulling you up. I took down Christopher Redfield," she crowed, raising her arms in jubilation. The STARS members were out on team building, to "raise their morale", according to Wesker. Immediately after finding out that one of the events would be paintball, Forest Speyer had immediately put a price on Chris's head.

"Whoever takes down that guy will receive $5 from me," he declared, putting the cash down. The Beta team's shooter had shared a friendly rivalry with Chris after finding out that the guy was a marksman, like himself. Not to be outdone, the other STARS members put money in the pot as well. Before Chris could process what was going on, the money reached to $100. He supposed he should be flattered, but just found the situation highly amusing. He grinned at the thought of Forest finding out Jill was the one who got him. He was obviously expecting to be the one taking home the money.

Jill was still dancing around, and Chris laughed as he watched her. She was really a happy-go-lucky girl, you wouldn't expect her to have served in the Delta Force for two years before moving on to law enforcement, and then to the most elite police department of them all. For all the stuff she has gone through though, she still gave an air of femininity that was uniquely hers, and Chris always loved to see that. "Help me up," he asked again.

Jill stopped her dancing at looked at him suspiciously. "Promise you won't pull me down?" she asked, her eyes narrowed.

"Promise," Chris said innocently. He raised his hand in her direction.

Jill watched him suspiciously as she went to him and grabbed hold, both of them trying to ignore the electricity flowing through at the smallest contact, the only hint Jill's color raising again.

Chris grinned. He couldn't resist it, especially after seeing Jill blush. He suddenly dragged her hard towards him, and she fell into a puddle of mud.

"Christopher Redfield!" She yelled, trying vainly to wipe off the mud as Chris laughed hard.

"At least you'll have proof you really did get me," he said between chuckles. "You're as dirty as me now!"

"Not yet," Jill said sweetly.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked, puzzled.

"I mean this!" Without warning, she grabbed a fistful of mud and threw it at Chris, landing squarely on his face.

"No fair!" Chris complained, wiping his eyes clear of mud. "You already shot me!"

"But you dragged me in this filth," Jill retorted. "Don't remove the mud, Redfield, looks better on you," she said, not able to resist getting a dig at Chris.

Chris was about to reply when a voice interrupted them. "Redfield, Valentine! Stop acting like kids and move! You only have five minutes to clean up before we move to the next station," Wesker cut in, his voice disgruntled. He was obviously not pleased with having the team building, even if it was insisted by the council. Obviously, "fun" wasn't in his vocabulary.

Chris and Jill got to their feet in a flash. "Yes, sir," they said simultaneously, raising their hands to salute their captain, who gave a disgruntled grunt before walking off, strangely limping. As soon as he left, Chris and Jill laughed their heads off again. Wesker's entire back was covered with red and blue paint, including his precious blond hair. Obviously, the team couldn't stop themselves from shooting their captain, and it took certain skill to do that without having the sharp-eyed Wesker catch them, but it was a walk in the park for the STARS.

"Mine's the one on his butt," Jill said, between laughs. She gave an unladylike snort as she guffawed, causing Chris to laugh harder.

"Big deal," Chris wheezed. "Mine's the one at the back of his head." Jill laughed harder at this. Everyone knew that no one mess with Wesker's hair. He cared for it as if it was alive, having a comb at his pocket and a huge bottle of gel, hair cement, and hair cream in his drawer. It was a private joke between the STARS that one of the codes of conduct in their department was "Thou shalt not mess with the Captain's hair."

"Come on, let's go," Chris said still chuckling. Playfully, he extended his elbow at Jill. "Shall we?" He asked, his eyes teasing.

"Thank you, kind sir," Jill said curtsying before taking hold of his elbow. Chris stifled another wave of laughter as he saw her attempt to bend her knees while covered with mud and her paintball gun balanced in her hands at the same time.

Jill had a broad grin as they walked. She won $100, she had her arm linked with Chris's firm, muscled one, and she shot Wesker in the butt. _Best day ever. _

Hi everyone.:P My apologies if the title was a bit misleading, but if I told you they were playing paintball from the beginning, the story would've been spoiled. It's not my best work, but I hope you like it. Just thought I'd take a break from writing a serious story (shameless plug: please do check out "Answered Questions". It's almost over, but I'm planning to create another one to continue this). I realized I didn't really write fluffy scenes in that one, so I'll be compensating with this, and I'll try to write up some of the ideas I have in my head as well.

Anyway, R&R, as always. Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it.:)


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